Lake Hazar

Lake Hazar
Lake Hazar and pine trees
Lake Hazar is located in Turkey
Lake Hazar
Lake Hazar
Location Taurus Mountains
Coordinates 38°29′N 39°25′E
Lake type Rift Lake
Primary outflows Tigris
Basin countries Turkey
Max. length 22 km (14 mi)
Max. width 6 km (3.7 mi)

Lake Hazar (Turkish: Hazar Gölü) is a rift lake in Turkey in the Taurus Mountains, 22 km southeast of Elazığ, notable as the source of the Tigris. It was formerly known as Lake Geoljuk (Gölcük).

Hazar Lake, Elazig

Sunken city

Scientists found 4,000-year-old archaeological traces of a city below the lake. The city has been submerged in Lake Hazar, since 1830. Turkey wants to register its historic 'Sunken City' in eastern Anatolia as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Ebubakar Irmak, Mayor of Sivrice, said he dove into the lake in 2017 and saw the remains of churches, walls of a castle, pots, pottery and glazed plates of the citadel with traces of the Seljuk, Byzantine and Ottoman era. In 2019, amphora tombs were also found in the sunken city.